crab spiders and camouflage

A crab spider (Thomisus sp. Family: Thomisidae) and a flower beetle @ home, Kerala. The Thomisdae, or Crab spiders are the masters of ambush and disguise. Some of them change their colors in tune to the surroundings, lie in wait, and leap on the unseeing insects. They are called crab spiders because of their crab-like appearance and sideways motion. They occur more commonly on plants, and sometimes under rocks. The family name thomisidae is derived from the Greek “thomis” meaning “a sting”.

a crab spider, Thomisus sp., and a flower beetle

The crab spider seems to be eyeballing the flower beetle and checking if it is potential food material 🙂

a crab spider, Thomisus sp., and a flower beetle

The flower beetles very often open the flower buds and eat the bud centres (see the image below). These bud centres contain the flower clustre in its primordial stage, which is a nutritious meal for the beetle. Probably the crab spider is aware of this and that could be the reason (?) it is staying near the flower bud in the first picture 🙂

I guess the plant in this picture is the zoomed in part of the cherry tree (see the cherry picking indian koel), with its budding leaves and flowers.

flower beetle eating the bud centre

Another crab spider waiting for its prey, between the “bushes” of a cockscomb (celosia cristata) flower.

thomisus pugilis spider and a bee

Date: 09-11 Sept 2005
Location: @ home, Kottayam, Kerala, India
Camera: Olympus C770UZ + MCON-40 Macro Lens

13 Responses

  1. Superb photos again. Rhe betle in lower photos, could it be a buprestid or jewel beetle?

  2. Hello Roxy. Beautiful post and images.

    Sorry for taking so long to come and visit you. We are not so far from Riva del Reno. How about coming over one of these days to see us?

  3. Mridula says:

    Can’t take my eyes off the last picture.

  4. rocksea says:

    Thanks abhilash, kanak, sreejith and sandeep. When I started preparing this article, I selected the first two because I liked the tone and action, and only later I added the last two. After your reviews and checking them again, I feel the last two are more active and lively!! Esp. the last one gives a crabspider viewpoint.

  5. sandeep says:

    beautiful macro shots. especially liked the last two shots.

  6. jaya says:

    hi,
    really good photos.
    this is the first time i’ve ever seen a crab spider.
    one question…why don’t you put a watermark on your photographs?

    example here:
    makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-sponsor-and-great-giveaway.html

    and a howto here:
    chocolateonmycranium.blogspot.com/2009/01/how-to-copyright-your-photos.html

    and one other thing… if you havent already taken one, take a pic like this:
    alimchugh.co.uk/bump-reminder-pregnancy-photographs-glasgow/

    if not to publish, at least to keep.

    • rocksea says:

      Jaya, thanks for the suggestions. Both are already taken care of 🙂

      There IS copyright mark on almost all of the photographs here (check the right bottom). Just that I like to keep it small and unobtrusive instead of large and eyecatching watermarks. If you can’t see it now, click on the above images and check them in the original size, you can see a larger copyright mark.

      We have already taken a lot of pregnancy photographs. Oh it is so tiring sometimes, but yes worth it!!

  7. Lovely! Truly.. especially the last one!

  8. Kanak says:

    Hi Rocksea, these photos are stunning!!! I’ve seen crab spiders but never managed to capture such detail. Loved going through the photos!

  9. Abhilash says:

    Roxy this is really superb.

    Superb pictures, this was something different. Hey you are a creative, rare kind of photographer..

  1. January 5, 2010

    […] the dry barks, and they change their color according to the surface they are resting on (like these crab spiders). Apart from this, they have a thin flat abdomen, and they lie sticking to the bark as if a part of […]

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